Freshman midfielder experiences healing

By Raegan Dougharty on October 27, 2017

Padilla is originally a native of Hawaii and has started three games in her debut season for the Golden Eagles.

Carrying the medical boot and both crutches that had helped her walk into chapel just hours before, Shayla Padilla, outside midfielder for the Golden Eagles women’s soccer team, used both legs to walk out of ORU’s Fall Revival service on Sep. 28. The ankle injury that she suffered from while playing a game two weeks prior was now miraculously healed.

Padilla’s ankle sprain occurred in an away game against Missouri State on Sep. 12 after she jumped and her weight fell on it. She resumed practice after two weeks on injury leave, but unfortunately sustained another sprain to the same ankle during this time. Despite fearing the worst, Padilla entered the Fall Revival service on Thursday night with anticipation for the Lord to move.

“I really thought that I had broken a bone, because I couldn’t put any weight on my foot or move it at all,” said Padilla.

After Planetshakers Pastor Russell Evans had finished delivering his message, ORU President William M. Wilson held an altar call, specifically inviting anyone who needed physical healing. Padilla instantly responded, as she had been walking with the assistance of an orthopedic boot and a pair of crutches for about two days after the sprain during practice.

“Everyone around me started putting their hands on me,” she said. “As we were praying, I was crying and asking the Lord to heal me. I was really scared, I put my trust in God.”

Padilla recalled that a “weird tingly feeling” started burning in her foot as soon as her friends began praying. She suddenly felt the urge to remove her boot and move her foot around.

“It felt so weird – I’ve never felt anything like that at all,” said Padilla.

Immediately after this happened, Padilla described the sequence of events to her good friend Rachael Baker, a fellow soccer player. Baker was one of the people who laid hands on Padilla minutes earlier.

Baker told Padilla that she had experienced the exact same tingly feeling in her hand while she had been praying. The two girls instantly knew that this had to be God’s divine handiwork. After hearing Baker’s story, Padilla fully removed her boot.

“I was very scared, because I wasn’t completely sure if I was able to move it,” said Padilla. “As soon as I took the boot off and slowly started to rotate my foot, I began to cry. Then I slowly started to walk, [then] jog and jump.”

Now, nearly two weeks after the healing, Padilla still feels no pain in her ankle. She maintains the belief that she is the recipient of a modern-day miracle.

“God does amazing things,” said Padilla. “All you have to do is trust and believe in him.”